Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving...with a Christmas card?   Sorry...it's all I have to show.  lol   I wasn't going to even post this one as I am a bit embarrassed about it, but my FMS teammate Jen Timko told me it was cute.  I'm curious to hear what you think?   I almost sat out this week at Freshly Made Sketches because I didn't want to post this one.  Thankfully I had time to make another card that I did like better.   I keep looking at this one, but I don't like any better now than I did on Tuesday.

I have some news to share today to make up for that awful card.  I was asked to be part of the Stamp Review Crew!  It is going to be a fabulous blog hop that will give you lots of ideas as we are featuring one set each hop.  Our first hop is Monday, so be sure to tune in for that!

Jason has to work early in the morning, so we put up the tree yesterday instead of tonight.  I hate breaking our tradition, but I want him to be able to rest after cooking today.   Laila is very fascinated with the tree and likes to tell us what all the ornaments are.  

FMS114: Christmas Snowflakes

Wow!  It's been a whole week since I last posted.  What a week it has been too, but we'll talk more about that later.  First, it's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!   Linda S is our hostess and she created this fun sketch for us this week.   I tried NOT to use snowflakes, but it just didn't look as good as the sketch so I went back and made one with them.  I like this one much better. :) 

I haven't used much of the Winter Frost paper that I have, so I needed to change that.  I really love the colors.  Blue and silver are my favorite colors for Christmas cards.   I used Pool Party, Island Indigo, and the silver glimmer paper.  Fun combo, right?!

Laila had her picture with Santa today.  She got to wear her new Christmas pajamas and everything!   :)    I was worried about how she'd do and Jason really thought she'd freak out.  I've been working with her and she "knows" Santa from books and pictures and can say his name and "Ho Ho Ho", so I was hoping we'd be okay.  Well, she was awesome!  She sat in his lap and was so calm.  She talked to him and even gave him hugs!  It was adorable.  I can't wait to get our proofs back.  

She's been teething again and these teeth seem to be so painful.  She's had a rough week, which means mommy had a rough week too.  I was so worn out that I actually napped during her naps instead of stamping.  Fingers crossed we are through the worst part of it!  She's a whopping 17 months old today!  Crazy. 

Stampin' Up! Truly Grateful and Gently Falling

Time for a new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!  The fabulous Cindy Hall is our sketch designer this week and she made a super fun one!   We've finally had some cooler days here in Texas, so I finally feel ready for some fall cards.  Maybe I'll just skip the Christmas ones this year since I'm getting a late start. ;-)  This was a pretty quick one to put together because I found myself with no ideas and didn't even start anything until after dinner last night.  Yikes!

Stamps:  Truly Grateful, Gently Falling

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Early Espresso

Paper:  Early Espresso, Early Espresso Core'dinations, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Neutrals Candy Dots

Tools:  Big Shot, Woodgrain TIEF, color spritzer (retired)

One of Laila's favorite things to read lately is the cooking magazine.  It has seen better days at this point, but she loves it.  We flip through it and talk about the pictures.  That girl knows her apples let me tell ya!  ;)

Stampin' Up! Ornament Keepsakes #2

Miss Laila is napping so after I grabbed a quick shower, I headed to my room to stamp.   :)  Yay!  I decided to tackle this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  It's a fun one for sure.  I used a lot of the supplies that were still on my desk from yesterday's card, so it's another strange Christmas color scheme.

I love my square framelits for these kind of cards.  They make it so much easier!  

Stamps:  Ornament Keepsakes, Pennant Parade

Ink:  Basic Black

Paper:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley DSP

Accessories:  Basic Black 1/4 grosgrain ribbon (retired), Neutrals buttons (retired), linen thread

Tools:  Big Shot, Square Framelits, Ornament Framelits

I hear a little voice in the monitor, so I'm off to get my girl.  I hope you all have a great Monday and fabulous week.  :)

Stampin' Up! Ornament Keepsakes

Man.  It's been a rough week here. I don't think I slept much Thursday or Friday nights and was so worn out. I have been trying to sleep every time Laila naps so that means NO stamping.  :-/    Thankfully the diaper rash that's kept us up is almost all healed and I slept great last night and took a nap today!  That means I was able to stamp some today.  I decided to play along with CAS(E) this Sketch and Dynamic Duos.  

   
I wasn't sure about black and gray for a Christmas cared, but I figured I'd give it a shot.   I think it turned out so elegant!  I love it.  I had originally intended to use a tree image, so I embossed the black in the woodgrain folder.  I hope it doesn't look bad with the ornament.  I still liked it and left it.

Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, Pennant Parade
Ink:  Basic Black, Smoky Slate
Paper:  Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
Accessories:  Basic Black Chevron ribbon, Large Rhinestones
Tools:  Big Shot, Woodgrain EF, Ornament Framelits

We had French toast for dinner tonight and let Laila try a bit of maple syrup.  It makes an excellent hair product.  ;)

Stampin' Up! Gently Falling

It's a new week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Jen B, who is seriously HILARIOUS, is our sketch designer and hostess this week.  I admit to being a bit perplexed by her sketch when I saw it, but I really enjoyed working with it when I sat down to make my card.  I think the entire design team rocked it out this week!  Be sure you go by the blog and check them out.  

For my card I decided to use some of the Sweater Weather DSP.  I haven't used nearly enough of it and we are already hitting 38 degree nights here in Texas.  That means red and green will be dominating soon and I need to enjoy the fall colors before it's too late!  I paired the paper with some leaves from Gently Falling, a greeting from Banner Greetings (hostess), and a bit of woodgrain embossing.  I think it turned out nice.  :)  Jason keeps telling me I am always too hard on myself and never have confidence, so I'm trying to change that up by actually admitting that I do like some cards I make.  lol

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Banner Greetings

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla, Sweater Weather DSP

Accessories:  Neutrals buttons (retired), Linen Thread

Tools:  Big Shot, Woodgrain TIEF

Cats and kids love the same "toys."  Laila took the box away from Bandit and got comfy.  :)  

Stampin' Up! Perfect Blend for the Holidays

Okay, here's my sharing of my addiction. We all have bad habits that we waste money on and mine is coffee...and stamps of course.  I love Starbucks sooooooooooooo much.  This time of year always makes me happy because a peppermint mocha in a red cup is just pure heaven.   I try to be good because it ain't a cheap addiction, but man!  Thankfully Santa always brings me a gift card or two and my friends also get me gift cards for my birthday.   :)    So anyway, all that inspired this project we are making for club!  I used the Perfect Blend stamp set to make cute red cups for the holidays!   This is a cool gift card holder that I learned to make by watching the amazing Jackie Topa's video.  That envelope punch board does some cool stuff, right?!

Here's the inside:

All it needs is a gift card in that little holder.   I hope my club ladies like it!

Stamps:  Perfect Blend, Tags 4 You, Sweet Essentials
Ink:  Real Red, Early Espresso
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Brights DSP stack
Accessories:  Season of Style Washi tape
Tools:  Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Stylish Stripes EF, Merry Minis punch pack, Bracket Label punch, Simply Scored

I've been working on a swatchbook in My Digital Studio for Laila's first year and it's so crazy to look back at how small she was just a year ago.  This picture was from November of last year.  Crazy!  She's just growing too fast.

Stampin' Up! Christmas Star

Today I wanted to share one of the projects we are making at my stamp club on Sunday.   I decided to focus on Christmas and the Envelope Punch Board for this month.  I love these file folder cards and had to make one!  I used the gorgeous Christmas Star single stamp.  You can find it and the other single stamps in my online store under the stamp category.

Isn't that designer paper gorgeous?  It is called Winter Frost and I just love it!

Stamps:  Christmas Star, Greetings of the Season
Ink: Smoky Slate, Island Indigo
Paper: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Winter Frost DSP
Accessories:  Vintage Faceted button, Island Indigo baker's twine
Tools: Envelope Punch Board

Once she mastered the ottoman, she moved on to bigger (and more dangerous) things.  Yikes!  We are working on sitting in the chair so that mommy doesn't have a heart attack.

Stampin' Up! Fox & Friends

It's been a tough mommy day today, so after my nap was spoiled by the cats I decided to go try stamping something.   Laila took a nice long nap so I was able to finish a card.  :)  I haven't stamped just for fun in ages!  I played along with the colors at colourQ and the theme at The Paper Players.  

   

I used some of the stack of retired DSP that my former demo had given me ages ago along with some of the awesome Core'dinations cardstock.  I just had to use my fox stamp from Fox & Friends.  He's so popular right now, huh?! 

My mom had my uncle fix up my old rocking chair that my papaw had given me when I was little.  It is so neat to see Laila sitting in it.  :)   She started climbing on the furniture today and oh my heavens am I a nervous wreck!   She needs a helmet and bubble wrap! 

FMS and HYCCT finale

I'm super excited to post today.  Not only is there a brand new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, but this is my last Hope You Can Cling To card.  All 36 challenge cards have been posted and shared and now I just need to mail them to MD Anderson Cancer Center.   October is definitely a favorite stamping month of mine now (even if I don't like pink).  This card that uses Linda's awesome sketch is for Lynn's challenge to use hearts.  I got that covered I think.  :)   Here's the sketch:

I did flip it because it wasn't looking so great turned the other way.  I think I need a larger heart to make that work.     Whew.  I'm tired and still have to get my club projects ready for this weekend.   Stamp, stamp, stamp!  I might have to take a week off soon just to clean up my room and give my shoulder and arm a break.  

This week she decided she'd start climbing and sitting in her chairs.   She takes a book or a snack with her sometimes.  Now I'm wishing I'd bought her the cute animal chair I saw at Costco on Sunday.  (pardon the clothes; we changed out of jeans for nap time)

..and more cards!

Believe it or not, I finally finished all the HYCCT challenges today!  I'm just so happy to have met my goal.   It seems impossible with two club meetings, a design team, and a toddler but I did it.  I'll be posting the last one tomorrow for Freshly Made Sketches, but here are the others that I've finished over the past few days.

Sheri's challenge was to make/cover a notebook or note pad. As a former nurse she knows how important it is to write things down, so these notebooks are perfect for that.  I kept mine simple, but it's pink and ready to go! 

Edna's challenge was to make a card that could be from or to a group.  I struggled with this one, but I thought my group of birds saying thank you could be from a group.  They all have their hearts out in thanks, right?!  ;)   I need a stamp of a bunch of bananas!  

The final challenge was from Lydia and it was to make a black and white card with a splash of color.  I cheated I guess with my mat, but hopefully she'll forgive me.  I had been wanting to use the Fight like a Girl sentiment but hadn't been able to make it work before.  It seemed perfect for this splattered card!

Laila didn't get candy for Halloween, but she did get an owl to add to her collection.  :)

Cards, cards, CARDS!

Did you survive the time change?  It's rough when you have a little one in the house.  No extra hour of sleep here for sure!   We've had a busy day, but I found a bit of time to stamp and then blog tonight.   I have a few days worth of Hope You Can Cling To cards to share.  This first one is for Kathleen's challenge to honor our elders.  I tried to do a vintage card with gold... I don't like vintage OR gold, but I do like doilies and Fun Flowers.  :)

This simple shaker card was for Judy's challenge to use acetate.  I still love this snowman and am sad that he's retired.  He's too cute to not use! 

Joyce's challenge was a subway art one.  I used the So Many Thanks photopolymer set and some Gorgeous Grunge splashes for this one.  Simple, but we won't discuss how many times my tired self smeared it and had to start over.

This last one is for Holly's challenge to make a holiday card with glitter.  I used my old snowflake die and some silver glimmer paper to add some sparkly snowflakes mixed in with some Midnight Muse ones stamped with the Endless Wishes photopolymer set. 

Whew...that's a lot of cards.  

My little mischievous pumpkin.  

Happy Friday!

What a week!  I am so worn out, but I've been trying to stamp when I can.  I don't think I am going to meet my goal of doing all 36 of the HYCCT challenges, but I haven't given up just yet.  I wanted to share two more of them with you today.   This one is for Lisa's mixed media challenge. I've never really done mixed media that I know of, but I tried it here.  There's a lot going on with the background, but it doesn't show up so well in the picture.  It has gesso, glittered acrylic paint, stamping, and some clear embossing.  I added some of those adorable felt flowers that I hoard and added a simple sentiment.

This next challenge was a hard one for me.  Paula asked us to make a card inspired by a fairy tale.  Now I am a bit rusty on my fairy tales, so all I could think of was a frog, shoe, or a princess.  Do I have stamps for those?  No.  So, Cinderella's pumpkin just had to do.  I decided to make it a fall card because this DSP needs some love.  :) 

Laila didn't go trick-or-treating, but she still got all dressed up to visit some of our friends.   Maybe next year she'll be allowed to have a bit of candy and go around to a few houses.  She really liked her costume, so she might be wearing it every now and then.  She looks so cute in it that I don't mind that at all.  :)